The midweek holiday seemed to set the stage for a long weekend of festivities from parades, concerts in the park to backyard parties. In preparation, I made a large batch of green salsa and shared some at all the functions I attended. Everyone kind of gives me the "Oh, so you make salsa, look?" I guess they have every right to wonder, as my background in classic cooking doesn't seem to go together with making a great salsa. However, this is something I really enjoy eating and was taught to me by the best at Mexican cooking, mainly the gentlemen of my staff in the garde manger kitchen of Disneyland.

We incorporated many different condiments into the restaurant menus and especially the banquet menus that featured cuisines from around the world. We were fortunate to work with people from many different countries who would share the foods that distinguish their cultures. Condiments from around the world have slowly been added to our culinary repertoire here in the United States.

We have our own line of staple condiments such as ketchup, bright-yellow mace mustard, pickle relish and mayonnaise. They appear as the basics early in our cuisine, but in the past two decades many more condiments have been added to our basics. The cuisine of Mexico, the Caribbean and South America brought with them an assortment of condiments we use every day now. Red salsa in many forms, green salsa, the fruity sweet and sour hot sauces of the Caribbean and the flavored oils and peppers from South America. We added the sauces of Asian countries such as soy, mirin laced sauces, heavy molasses based sauces, sweet hot ginger sauces, the yellow curries from India and the list goes on. The Internet has given us the ability to purchase many products we use to only be able to read about. I often marvel at the menu ideas made unique by this ability to purchase from around the world and cross culture the products prepared by the kitchen.

In that respect, a good background in classic cooking is a must as creating without knowledge of what you're doing can create a "big flop!"

The apprentices are always warned to be careful in creating something new and different before they understand the concepts. I use to tell them to be sure to get a "kitchen witch" to hang in their kitchens and fill it with fresh sage for ultimate help. I guess we all were apprentices at one time, and even I had to learn to make my favorite green salsa. It works especially well on some fresh scrambled cheesy eggs for breakfast!

Chef's Green Salsa

12 tomatilios, remove the outer skin and rinse well then cut in half and take out the stem

1 sweet white onion or 1/2 of a red onion

Page 2 of 2 - 4 good size cloves of fresh garlic, place in the microwave for about 15 seconds and the skins fall right off

1 bunch of cilantro, take off half of the stems

1 large jalapeno pepper cut in half and seeds removed

Salt and black pepper

1/2 of a 14-ounce can of green enchiladas sauce, freeze the rest for another day

Place all the ingredients, with the exception of the green enchilada sauce, in the food processor fitted with a blade or in a bullet machine. Pulse until finely pureed.

Place in an airtight container and add the enchilada sauce. Mix well and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

This can be colored with finely chopped red, yellow or orange sweet peppers. Serve with blue corn chips for a real color treat.

Culinary arts classes

• "Yreka Lavender Class" will be held on Saturday, July 13, from 2-4 p.m. Sign-up or for more information, phone the Chef at (949) 735-7420 or email meme_brask@yahoo.com

• "Hunting Season 2013 – The Art of Sausage Making"

This is the class for hunters who would like to learn skills in making homemade sausage. Spice blends to create great-tasting sausage will be discussed and samples made to create several different kinds of sausage.

Game and meat blends will be discussed and marinades created for different kinds of sausages. Several different kinds of casings will be used for this hands-on class. This is a fun class for the amateur to learn skills. The cost is $25 per student.

It will be held on Saturday, July 20, from 2-4 p.m. at the Scott Valley Garden Center in Greenview. Stop by and see Kathy or Sara to sign up for this class.

The same class will be on Saturday, Aug. 3, from 2-4 p.m. in the St. Mark's Preservation Square meeting room, 300 Fourth St. in Yreka.

Phone Chef at (949) 735-7420 for more details or email meme_brask@yahoo.com and sign up soon with a deposit to hold your place in the class.